


And Then There Were None

by wolfie_winchester



Category: SOMA (Video Game)
Genre: Assisted Suicide, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 15:39:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7720366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfie_winchester/pseuds/wolfie_winchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a long time after Catherine shorts out, the only sound Simon hears is that of the space gun settling, the metal creaking ominously, like everything might break apart around him. His breathing, if you could call it that, is coming quicker and quicker now that the truth of the situation hits him. He’s completely, utterly alone at the bottom of the ocean.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Then There Were None

**Author's Note:**

> Never has a game affected me as much as SOMA. I don't even have the words for how it made me feel, other than extremely grateful that I got to experience it. Seriously, I love this game so much. 10/10 would recommend. I like horror games, but this was so much more than just a horror game. It was a story and I loved being immersed in this world. 
> 
> Really. Go play this game if you haven't, and then come back to read this. (I mean, you can still read this if you haven't played the game, but you'll be kinda lost. Not to mention that there are major spoilers ahead for it.)

For a long time after Catherine shorts out, the only sound Simon hears is that of the space gun settling, the metal creaking ominously, like everything might break apart around him. His breathing, if you could call it that, is coming quicker and quicker now that the truth of the situation hits him. He’s completely, utterly alone at the bottom of the ocean. 

 

He doesn’t know long he sits in the pilot seat. It could be minutes or hours or days, but eventually he finds the will to get up. Anything is better than sitting there, staring at the blank screen in front of him. The Omnitool comes out of the terminal easily enough, but even without knowing much about futuristic technology, he knows that it’s broken. Which means that unless he somehow gains superhuman strength, he’s trapped outside - no way back into Phi. 

 

Simon walks over to the airlock where the screen next to the door reads  _ Swipe Omnitool.  _ Desperation has him raising the device anyway, pressing buttons uselessly in hopes that it will magically start working again. The Omnitool’s screen doesn’t even light up and with a frustrated cry, Simon throws it towards the ground. All it does is float down slowly, landing on the floor with an unsatisfying thud. 

 

He brings his hand up - only one now since he sacrificed the other to the WAU - and bangs on the door. He’s not hoping anyone will come to his rescue; he’s not that delusional. But he needs something to vent his anger on. He doesn’t know what’s more upsetting. That Catherine lied again, that he’s stuck here alone forever, or simply waking up in this dead world in the first place. 

 

If he could bleed, he’s sure that his knuckles would be bloody inside the glove of his power suit by now. As it is, he just keeps pounding away, not sure when his frustrated screaming turns into crying. Water bubbles around him as he sinks to the ground, breathing hard. 

 

Simon sits there, the weight of the ocean suffocating him until he has to close his eyes. He tries not to think that he doesn’t actually have eyes at all. The last thing he’d seen with his own eyes, in his own human body, had been David Munshi and that damned pilot seat that started it all. Would it have been better if he hadn’t even tried to find a cure for what was obviously incurable? If he’d just accepted that no matter what fancy technology was being developed, nothing would save him? 

 

He thinks of those recordings he’d found of himself in Catherine’s lab. It had been so strange, hearing his own voice say things he doesn’t even remember. His human self hadn’t been wrong, though. 

 

“All that hope... wasted,” Simon mutters, thinking of how eerily accurate that fits the situation he’s in now. 

 

The ARK - now orbiting safely around Earth - had been his last shot at living a normal life. He’d been so dead set on it that he didn’t even think that anything could go wrong. Only now is Simon realizing how stupid he’d been. He should’ve known when they did the transfer at Omicron. As soon as he’d seen his other self sitting there in the pilot seat, he should’ve known that it would be the same for when they got on the ARK. 

 

Catherine was right. If he hadn’t been so ignorant, so in denial about what was really going to happen, maybe he wouldn’t have been as upset with her. Maybe her circuits wouldn’t have fried and maybe he’d still have  _ someone _ to talk to while they waited out eternity down here. Now, the only thing he can think to do to get out of this, is to kill himself. There’s nothing for him here - even if he were somehow able to gain access to Pathos-II again, the only thing waiting for him are more of the WAU’s creations. 

 

He thinks of the Proxies he’d encountered at Theta. The gurgling, screeching screams that they’d emitted had sent chills down his spine and he’d happily stay here forever if it meant not having to hear that terrible sound again. And then there was that strange woman whose body had somehow been part robot and the other creature that lumbered around sending out enough electromagnetism to fry his circuits if he’d gotten too close. Simon would rather take his chances with the giant leviathan that’s still probably swimming around outside the entrance to Phi. 

 

No matter what happens, though, there’s no escaping this place. 

 

Simon looks down at his power suit, wondering if there’s a way for him to somehow disable the battery. Damaging the suit obviously hadn’t done much - his missing hand is evidence enough of that - so trying to puncture the suit or do anything that might allow the pressure of the water to kill him is out of the question. He can’t reach the battery pack since it’s attached to the inside of the suit and even though the body his mind is controlling is dead and probably deteriorating, he doubts he could contort himself enough to get the suit open and get to it. 

 

As he’s trying to puzzle out how to end his own existence, Simon kind of has to laugh. He gets it now. He understands why all those people that Catherine scanned had killed themselves so shortly after. He’d thought Mark Sarang was crazy for encouraging it among the staff, but now he thinks that maybe the guy had the right idea. 

 

He doesn’t actually know if killing himself means he wakes up on the ARK. Maybe this copy of him will just cease to exist. No afterlife, or paradise in a computer simulation. But even nothingness is better than this. 

 

Simon is in the middle of wondering if breaking open the glass on his helmet would be enough to do it, when a familiar beeping and whirring draws his attention. There’s a light on the door in front of him, but it’s not coming from his flashlight. He turns around and is surprised to see - of all things - that little robot he’d found just before arriving at the shuttle station to Lambda. He doesn’t even know if this is the same one or if another one that was activated in the area managed to find him. 

 

“Hey little guy,” Simon says. If he had a mouth, he’d be smiling right now. 

 

The robot beeps in response, the light flashing a few times as it whirs and circles him. 

 

“Are you the same one from before? From Site Delta?” he asks. It beeps and Simon chuckles before saying, “Okay, how about one beep for yes and two for no?” 

 

The robot beeps once and Simon considers it progress. Maybe the thing doesn’t have a voice, but at least they can communicate somewhat. 

 

“Great! So, uh, about my other question... are you the same?” 

 

_ Beep. Beep. _

 

Simon tries not to be disappointed, because at least he has company, but he’d planned on apologizing to it if it had answered with a single beep. He hadn’t wanted to shoot that talking robot, but he’d needed to get to Theta. He just wishes he hadn’t scared the K8 from Delta. Basic intelligence, is what that file had said when he discovered it on one of the computers. Basic enough for it to understand what Simon had done with that stun baton.

 

Nonetheless, these particular robots seem to be programmed to help, so maybe Simon can use this one to his advantage. 

 

“Oh. So, uh, how did you - no, wait. Did you know I was here?” he asks. 

 

_ Beep. _

 

“Are you here to help me?” 

 

_ Beep. _

 

The K8 starts to float towards the door. It probably thinks Simon wants to open it, but even if he could, he can’t use the Omnitool to flush the water out of the airlock. 

 

“No, wait. I, uh, I don’t need you to do that,” he says. The robot turns, like it’s looking at him waiting for a command. Simon wonders if he can order it to kill him. He hopes that Isaac Asimov’s three rules weren’t taken into account when these things were built. Is he still relevant? Or has he faded within the century that’s passed since Simon last read something from him? 

 

_ Focus _ , he thinks, before he gets distracted thinking about what this future would have been like if the comet hadn’t hit. He’s only delaying the inevitable. 

 

“I know this is a terrible thing to ask. And I don’t even know if you can really understand why I’m asking at all. But I... I want you to kill me.” 

 

The robot simply floats there, not making a sound as the light shines in Simon’s face. 

 

“I don’t want to stay down here forever. I can’t get back into Phi - not that I really want to - and my Omnitool’s busted. My only chance was getting on the ARK and that didn’t work. So, this is the only thing left I can think of. You can use that laser thing you open doors with, right? That’ll... that’ll do the job.”

 

Silence. And then.  _ Beep. _

 

If he didn’t know better, he’d say it sounds almost sad. The light dims a little and he wonders if after he’s gone, this little robot will be the only semi-sentient thing left down here that isn’t some mutated freakshow. The thought saddens him, and he almost wants to say, ‘never mind, we’ll figure something out,’ but the truth is, he doesn’t know if they can. 

 

“I’m sorry,” he says, for whatever it’s worth. “I know you’re programmed to help me, so... so think of it like this: I’m asking you to help me escape. This is the only way that I know for sure will work.” 

 

The light flashes and the K8 lets out a series of beeps, the robot whirring as it circles Simon a few times. Eventually, it settles and Simon sees the little laser gun mounted at the base of the robot move. 

 

“Will this hurt?” he asks. Which is a stupid question, he thinks. He’s about to be shot by a laser. Of course it’s going to fucking hurt. But the robot beeps twice and Simon thinks that maybe it has a little more than basic intelligence. 

 

“Good,” he says, voice beginning to tremble. “Just. Just make it quick.” 

 

Simon closes his eyes. He feels the heat before he hears the sound. There’s pain - so much that he can’t even scream - and then, nothing. 

 


End file.
